Often, when people talk about innovation in education, they immediately think of purchasing tablets and laptops or acquiring apps and digital platforms for students. This line of reasoning isn’t entirely wrong, since, in the third decade of the 21st century, these tools will be part of students’ future work environments, just as investing in high-speed internet access is also becoming increasingly important—as these times of social isolation have clearly shown.

However, innovation in the teaching and learning process requires much more than just tools; it demands sound educational policies that encourage experimentation and scale up proven innovative practices.

To that end, it is essential to look for best practices that have yielded positive results in Brazil and around the world—approaches that have proven effective in education but have not yet been translated into public policy. And there is no shortage of examples.

Right here in Brazil, the full-time school program in the state of Pernambuco—which began with the Ginásio Pernambucano and was later extended to nearly the entire school system—was a thoroughly tested educational innovation that proved to be scalable and capable of transforming high school education in that state, yielding results both in terms of learning and in reducing inequalities. And yes, they used technology—through robotics workshops, better-equipped labs, and even video production equipment—but the biggest innovation lies elsewhere.

The innovation lay in drawing on practices that have yielded positive results in countries with strong educational systems, such as implementing a single-shift schedule and adopting a curriculum in high school—and later in Elementary School 2—that includes time to discuss students’ life plans with them, promotes youth leadership, and offers elective courses that allow students to explore their chosen paths in greater depth. Several other states drew inspiration from this experience and established schools based on the Pernambuco model. Subsequently, all these ideas were incorporated into the new high school curriculum—which will begin to be implemented in 2021—and into the BNCC.

Another important innovation is the Amazonas Media Center. To address the logistical challenges of high school education for young people living along the riverbanks—given the time required to travel deep into the forest to reach schools scattered across distant villages—the government decided to implement a strategy of broadcasting classes via satellite, taught by teachers from the state’s own school system.  On site, generalist teachers organize the learning environment and facilitate interaction. This strategy proved successful and was recognized by the renowned Brookings Institution as one of the 14 best in the world for ensuring quality learning at scale. Today, the state of São Paulo also has a Media Center, and others are seeking to create something similar, adapted to their own circumstances.

We could also mention “Jovem de Futuro,” an innovation in educational management that has been helping state-run public high school systems, promoted by the Unibanco Institute. Following a thorough impact assessment, the initiative proved not only successful in better allocating resources—which are not always plentiful—but also in teaching school administrators and teachers to work with data and in ensuring quality learning with equity. Eleven states have already benefited from this innovation to a greater or lesser extent.

We could also highlight the now internationally recognized practice in Sobral, which—using very simple ideas that have not yet been adopted in much of Brazil—pioneered age-appropriate literacy programs with great success, and eventually saw its efforts expanded to the rest of Ceará and, more recently, to Pernambuco.

Why am I citing these examples? Because each one involves innovations that are not necessarily tied to technology—although they do benefit from it—and have become public policy and are thus being scaled up.

Unfortunately, when people think about innovation in public education, they often think of solutions that are appealing but not scalable. While these solutions may indeed be valuable to the school that adopts them, no matter how inspiring they may be, they do not transform the country’s educational reality. We need more Media Centers, more “Ginásios Pernambucanos,” more “Jovens de Futuro,” and, certainly, a widespread expansion of literacy programs!

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